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The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami brought significant changes to the upper atmosphere, a recent study from NASA revealed.

The spatial agency said that electrons in the ionosphere, an area in the upper atmosphere between 50 and 500 miles above the earth, were disturbed by the shock wave released during the earthquake.

NASA showed still and moving images of the ionosphere that were monitored by GPS signals sent between satellites and ground receivers.

This kind of effect in the atmosphere was noticed before, at tsunamis in Samoa in 2009 and Chile in 2010. This time, however, the quake took place in an area that is more populated by GPS receivers, so the data recorded was of better quality.